President Zelensky: Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk to be translated into Ukrainian and sent to schools

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his video address on the occasion of Ukraine’s Constitution Day, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“The Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk, which is over 300 years old. It is called the first written Constitution of Europe. And last year it visited home, Ukraine, for the first time. It was exhibited in Kyiv, but it is fair to read it in every corner of Ukraine. To this end, it will be translated from Latin into Ukrainian, and tens of thousands of copies will be sent to Ukrainian schools,” Zelensky told.

In his words, the Constitution makes it possible to decipher the genetic code of the Ukrainian nation and give a detailed portrait of Ukrainians.

“The norms of the Constitution make it possible to decipher the genetic code of our nation. Find the answer to two main questions: what is Ukraine and who are the Ukrainians? This is our detailed portrait. And especially now, during a full-scale war, its main features are clearly visible,” Zelensky noted.

The Basic Law of the state adopted 26 years ago outlines the principles of Ukraine’s struggle now. It explains why and what Ukrainians are fighting for.

“This is the right of the Ukrainian people to self-determination, the universally approved independence of Ukraine, the irreversibility of the path to Europe. This is the responsibility to God, to one’s own conscience, to previous, present, and future generations,” the President of Ukraine said.

According to Zelensky, it was not Ukraine to have started the war, and Ukrainians are defending their sovereign, independent, democratic, social and legal state.

Zelensky stressed that Ukraine’s sovereignty extends to the entire territory of Ukraine.

“We are a unitary state. Our territory within the existing borders is integral and inviolable. That is why in the east and west, in the south, in the north and in the center, our people are heroically fighting for these principles and for the second article of our Constitution. Repelling the second army of the world,” the President of Ukraine explained.

Zelensky mentioned that the Basic Law defines land as the main national wealth, and Ukrainians will fight for every meter of the Ukrainian land to the last breath.

“Because only the people can change the constitutional order in Ukraine. No one can usurp state power. We know the term ‘democracy’ well, so we don’t know what the fifth term is. Our right to protest, assembly and manifestation is a constitutional article, and for others it is a criminal one,” Zelensky stressed.

According to the President of Ukraine, state symbols are not symbolic or formal for Ukrainians. Ukraine’s flag is a flag made of blue and yellow stripes. Two sacred colors. The third is not given. As it is not allowed for a foreign tricolor to hoist over the Ukrainian land, in the Ukrainian sky in any way different than with the prefix ‘temporarily’.

The Head of the State also mentioned that Ukraine’s coat of arms is a sign of the Princely State of Volodymyr the Great.

“This is a trident. Not two-headed birds. Because this is not going to fly here,” Zelensky added.

According to Zelensky, Ukrainians in the occupied cities are not afraid to go to peaceful rallies and sing the national anthem. Looking into the eyes of the occupier, Ukrainians sing that the enemy will vanish like the dew in the sun.

“This nation cannot be defeated! Only exterminated. But even this is impossible. Because we are of Cossack descent!” the President of Ukraine stressed.

Zelensky noted that Ukraine’s state language is Ukrainian, but Ukrainians respect all other languages and do not oppress any of them.

The Head of the State also recalled that the Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk is a “legal ancestor” of the present-day Constitution of Ukraine. Zelensky expressed confidence that, sooner or later, the Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk, the Constitution of independent Ukraine, and other subjects of the Ukrainian school will be studied by happy and smiling Ukrainian children in Donetsk, Luhansk, Mariupol, Kherson and Crimea.

Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine

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